The rest of the week goes by without much change. Leea and I still have a few days of school, so we can't help Cecil and Rachel look for more elementals, but they use most of their time scouring the woods around the town or distracting Wasp. I think they told him there were files or something in the library that would help them find the elementals, and so far he's believed them, at least according to the tracking spell Cecil cast on him after I had the dream. Leea did see it as well one later that night and both My and Nick said they did too after a few days, which would imply that the theory about Wasp bluffing was probably right.
Leea, My, Nick, and I have spent all our spare time practicing the carol we finally finished. My suggested we make a dance choreograph to go with it but she was promptly ruled down due to the massive amount of other work we have to finish as well. I can't wait until next week when school finally ends.
It's Saturday morning just after 11 when someone knocks on my door. Flame jumps to my knitting basket, already used to getting out of view whenever someone comes to my room, and I go to the door. It's Tony. He has a weird look on his face.
"What?" I ask, almost cautious.
"There's a guy at the door," he says slowly and narrows his eyes. "He wants to see you."
I give him a questioning look and push past him, closing the door of my room behind me, making sure it clicks shut. Tony stands at the top of the stairs as I walk down and pull open the front door.
"Oh," I say.
"Hello," says Cecil. He gives me a goofy grin. "I hate to bother, but I do require your assistance in something."
I motion for him to come in and he does, taking off his white beanie and ridiculously large purple scarf and unbuttoning his coat. His hair is all mussed up and I resist the urge to comb my fingers through it. Instead I give him a coat hanger and show him upstairs.
Tony is still standing at the top and he raises his eyebrows as I lead Cecil behind me. I roll my eyes.
"Cecil, this is Tony, my big brother," I say. "Tony this is Cecil. He's my friend."
"Friend, huh?" Tony says as he looks Cecil up and down before sticking out his hand. Cecil takes it with a charming smile. Thankfully Tony doesn't say anything more and we retreat into my room, closing the door behind us.
"So, uh," I start, suddenly feeling very self-conscious as Cecil looks around my room curiously. Flame's ears perk up from the basket and soon she jumps out in a flurry of red flames. Cecil lets out a delighted laugh.
"Well hello lovely," he says to her and scratches her. "Aren't you beautiful! You know, it's one thing to hold her in the dream space but a whole nother thing awake. Oh, she's so warm."
I watch them for a while, a small smile creeping on my face until I realise I still don't know why Cecil's here.
"You, uh, said you needed my help?" I ask and sit down on my bed. Cecil looks up as if just now remembering he needed something else in life other than holding Flame.
"Ah, right," he says. "Well, I don't need as much your help as I need Flame's help, but I would not object at all if you were to accompany us as well. I think I found a way to make finding the other elemental easier." Flame lets out a happy sound and jumps on his shoulder.
"Okay, what do you need?" I ask.
"Now, while I'm not a hundred percent sure that the elementals instinctively know where others like them are, we do know that they possess a small amount of telepathic powers, which would explain how the other elemental could hone in on Flame's mind in the dream. So, I want to take Flame outside with me, to see if she could help us find her missing kin!" Cecil's face is beaming as he talks and it pains me to have to ask but I have to.
"What about Wasp?"
"Don't worry about Wasp," Cecil says, a bit too dismissively. "Rachel has him tied up at the library and she will tell me if something happens." And then, almost as an afterthought, "I don't mean literally tied up, we don't want him to know we don't like him and tying him up would be kind of counterproductive. Unless he's into that kind of thing, I wouldn't know. Although I did try to suggest to Rachel she could try and charm him, because he does seem to fancy her, but she made it abundantly clear that she was not interested in any part of him. I tried to tell her to take one for the team, but she said that I could go-"
"Cecil," I say. Cecil's mouth falls closed and he looks at me. "I really don't need to hear this and we are losing daylight. If you wanna do it, then let's go."
"Right," he says. "Sorry."
I pack Flame in a bag and we leave my room. We don't run into Tony on our way out (thank god), but mom calls me from the kitchen before we leave. There's a short introduction, the reminder that my aunt is coming over tomorrow evening and it would be desirable I was home for that, and then I'm pushing Cecil out the door before mom can get into prying mode.
~x~
"And the teacher never showed up?" Cecil asks. We're walking around the lake and since there aren't many people around these parts, we've let Flame out of the bag. She won't step on the ground though, and instead is curled up in a ball in Cecil's arms.
"He never showed up!" I say with a grin. "And so this one student just stands up all "my time has come" and goes up to the front of the class and starts talking about all these fan theories on the island in Lost. Like, he had graphs and everything! And everyone just went with it, raising their hands like he was the teacher!"
Cecil laughs and I laugh and even Flame lets out a noise that could be interpreted as laughter. I sigh and we fall into a companionable silence, the snow crunching beneath our feet. Occasionally Flame lets out a high note, as if she's calling to someone. Maybe she is, I think. Maybe we're getting close to the other elemental.
There's a sound from somewhere. A screeching sound. We freeze.
"What was that?" I whisper.
"I don't know," Cecil whispers back. Flame makes a whimper and curls tighter around herself. That is not a good sign.
A tree falls down in front of us.
"Holy crap!" I yell. Flame shouts in terror and jumps into my bag. Cecil grabs my arm and yanks me back just as another tree falls on where I was just standing.
"Buongiorno, Cecil!" comes a voice. "Did you really think I wouldn't figure out you were hiding something? Did you really think your sorella could hold me at the library forever?"
A large figure steps up from behind a tree. Wasp. Cecil grits his teeth.
"What did you do to Rachel?" he asks, voice dripping with venom.
"Don't worry, mio amico, she is fine. She is just, ah... sleeping." Wasp smiles humourlessly and then turns to me. "And now to the matter at hand. The elemental, if you would."
"This is illegal, Wasp," Cecil says, shifting himself to stand slightly in front of me. "You have no right to kidnap and sell these creatures."
"Ah, but see, I do not care."
"We won't let you," I hear myself say. I feel very disconnected from my body, like I'm moving on autopilot. The first and last time I was face to face with this man he shot me and Cecil and I am terrified. "You won't get Flame and you won't get away with this."
Wasp laughs at that.
"You named it Flame? How simply adorable," he says, holding a hand to his chest. Then his face falls. "Enough chit chat. Give it to me, or I will take it."
What happens next is very fast.
Wasp launches towards me and I can't move, I'm frozen in place just like in the dream, my heart throbbing in my chest. Flame hisses from the bag, looking ready to physically fight Wasp if it comes to it. Cecil pulls out a wand and shouts a spell, a flash of blue light erupting from the tip of the wand and Wasp stops for a moment, deflects it. Then Cecil is grabbing my hand and yelling "RUN!" and so we run.
~x~
We're halfway through the town when we finally stop to breathe, collapsing onto a park bench. Our breaths come out in white puffs as we gasp for air.
"What... did you... do to him?" I pant.
"A stunning spell," Cecil wheezes back. "Unfortunately not a very powerful one, and it looked like he countered it anyway. I'm not very good with combat spells." He takes a deep breath.
"So, what now?" I ask. "If he countered the spell he could catch up with us any minute."
"I know... I need you to go to the library, Rachel has to be found. You should also tell Leea, I have a feeling we'll need her too," Cecil says, rubbing his face and then adjusting his glasses. I'm already halfway through the text to Leea to meet me at the library when his words sink in properly.
"Wait, what about you? Aren't you coming with me?"
"There's something I need to take care of," Cecil says, face dark. "And someone has to find Rachel. I don't even want to imagine what he did to her."
A wave of sympathy washes through me and I place my hand on his shoulder. He gives me a halfhearted smile.
"I could come with you?" I suggest. "Tell Leea to find Rachel..."
"No," he says sternly. "I have to take care of this alone."
"But-"
"Please." A plea, a simple word that makes everything stop. It almost hurts me to see him like this, so small and desperate. His usually bubbly voice is quiet and his eyes scared and worried, worried about his sister, worried about Flame, worried about... me?
"Please," he says again, louder this time. "I need you to trust me."
I'm silent for a beat.
"Yeah ok."
He goes to the opposite direction as I head towards the library.
____________________________________________________________________
No I didn't spend four hours writing this. I had some problems. I had no idea what was going to happen ahhhhhhh. Sleepy time now?
Your topic umhhhhh... Twilight.
Pie out.
PS, the Italian things Wasp says are "hello", "sister", and "my friend".
PPS, 20.12. the sun set at 15:53 in London. Just for context.
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